Priority COVID-19 testing needed to get police ‘off the bench’

Victoria’s safety will be unnecessarily put at further risk until police are given priority testing for COVID-19, the police association has warned.

Wayne Gatt, head of the union, told Neil Mitchell almost 400 members were forced to self-isolate last week, meaning they were unable to work.

“It’s really important that our members can get tested so they can get back out on the front line,” he explained on 3AW.

“At the moment, if one of our members is exposed, or we suspect they’re exposed, they’re on the bench for 14 days.

“Last week, we had a situation where we had about 391 employees on the bench (and) that’s only going to grow.

“We don’t want to see it diminish the available resources we have at this time to keep the community safe.”

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